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Postal stamp on Saint Alphonsa released

New Delhi:A postal stamp on Saint Alphonsa, India's first woman saint, was released at a convention of the Syro Malabar Church here on Sunday.

Chief post master general (Delhi) P K Gopinath released the Rs 15 stamp and handed it over to Supreme Court Judge Cyriac Joseph, a church official said. Bishops of different diocese in Kerala and Delhi, led by Thrissur Archbishop Andrews Thazhathu, attended the ceremony.

The Central Government has also decided to release a coin honouring Saint Alphonsa. Saint Alphonsa was canonised on October 12 by Pope Benedict XVI at a ceremony at St Peter's Square, Vatican.

Alphonsa was born in Kudamaloor, a village near Kottayam, to Joseph and Mary on August 19, 1910. Having lost her mother at a very young age, she was brought up by her maternal aunt and educated by an uncle who was a priest. She faced several health problems, which eventually claimed her life on July 28, 1946.

On December 2, 1953, EugA ne-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Cardinal Tisserant inaugurated the diocesan process for her beatification and Alphonsa was declared a 'Servant of God'. On July 9, 1985, she received the title Venerable Sister Alphonsa. She was beatified on February 8, 1986, by Pope John II.

Image:Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee releases a commemorative Rs Five coin on Saint Alphonsa by handing over it to Bishop Mar Joseph Pallikaparampil at Bharananganam, Kochi.